Freethought of the Day

Would you like to start your day on a freethought note? "Freethought of the Day" is a daily freethought calendar brought to you courtesy of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, highlighting birthdates, quotes, and other historic tidbits.

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October 1

Annie Besant

On this date in 1847, Annie Besant (née Wood) was born in London. The sheltered girl married the unpleasant Rev. Frank Besant (rhymes with "pleasant") at 20. Besant, she later quipped in an early autobiography, had "very high ideas of a husband's authority and a wife's submission." Besant met liberal former minister Moncure Conway, and after a course of reading, gave up Christianity at age 25 and soon after separated from her husband. In 1874, Annie met Charles Bradlaugh, Britain's most prominent freethought leader and an attorney for the poor, who offered her a position on the weekly National Reformer. They embarked on a platonic professional partnership of writing, speaking and reform. Besant became a celebrity among reformers, with George Bernard Shaw praising her as "the greatest orator in England, and possibly in Europe." Annie persuaded Charles to reprint The Fruits of Philosophy, a book about birth control, to challenge the Obscene Publications Act. They were arrested, tried and narrowly avoided jail. When Annie shrewdly rewrote the outdated booklet, her version became a bestseller that hastened the birth control movement worldwide. But her involvement lost her custody of her 8-year-old daughter. Annie became a student at London University when it agreed to admit women in 1878, receiving the only honors award in botany in 1881 in Prof. Thomas Huxley's class. She was the first woman on the London School Board, and an advocate for working class women and woman suffrage. Her enthusiasms for other causes and other men gradually strained her friendship with Bradlaugh. The rudest shock to Bradlaugh, his daughter Hypatia, and admirers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton came in 1889, when Besant officially converted to theosophy. Although retaining affection for the freethought movement, she became a successor to the mystic founder of theosophy, Mme. Blavatsky, moving to India. A fanatical bent which her mother had detected (her mother's prophetic dying words: "it has been darling Annie's only fault; she has always been too religious") took Besant on a journey to occultism. Even in India, however, Besant was a true reformer, never quite losing her practical bent. An early supporter of Indian Home Rule, she was later praised by freethinker Jawaharlal Nehru as the "Mother of India." D. 1933.

“ . . . I rejoice that I played my part in that educating of England which has made impossible for evermore the crude superstitions of the past, and the repetition of the cruelties and injustices under which preceding heretics suffered.”

Charlie McDonnell

On this date in 1990, Charlie McDonnell was born in Bath, England, where he grew up. In 2007, while bored studying for exams, he started making videos for his YouTube channel, charlieissocoollike. The channel became incredibly popular after producing hit videos like “How to get featured on YouTube” and “How to be English.” His YouTube channel has more subscribers than any other channel based in the UK. As of January 2012, he had nearly 1,400,000 subscribers. Producing videos on YouTube has been McDonnell’s full-time job and primary source of income since he graduated from secondary school in 2009. In 2010, he moved to London, where he lives with friend and collaborator Alex Day. In 2011, the two bought a house in order to shed the reputation of being “kids who make videos in their bedrooms.”

McDonnell occasionally performs humorous songs on his YouTube channel, usually accompanying himself on the ukulele. He addresses scientific themes in songs like “A Song About Monkeys,” about evolution, and “Chemical Love,” on the physical origins of human emotion. In “A Song About Monkeys,” McDonnell addresses a gorilla: “You’re my favorite animal, but I’m biased I guess, because you look exactly like me. . . . You’re an animal. You’re just like me, ‘cause I’m an animal. We’re of the same biology.” McDonnell is a member of the Doctor Who-themed band Chameleon Circuit with Day. He has also made appearances in more mainstream media outlets; he presented an award at the 2010 British BAFTA Television Awards, and in 2010 he filmed a series of behind-the-scenes videos for the BBC show “Doctor Who Confidential.” McDonnell often addresses scientific ideas from a rational perspective in his videos, and describes himself as an atheist.

Freethought of the Day

Would you like to start your day on a freethought note? "Freethought of the Day" is a daily freethought calendar brought to you courtesy of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, highlighting birthdates, quotes, and other historic tidbits.

If you would like to be placed on the "Daily Freethought" e-mail list to automatically receive the calendar notice, log in and edit your email settings (My Membership). Or, email and include your first and last name with your request for verification purposes. This email service is limited to members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation or subscribers to Freethought Today. To become an FFRF member, click here.